BaL 3.03.18 - Mahler: Symphony no. 7

[Cockney Sparrow]

All they had to do was to isolate the applause on to a separate track.

I have the Abbado Symphonies sets - as downloads from Qobuz. Regrettably, I really haven't listened to them. However, I've just listened to the last movement - and the clapping is isolated there (applause is on the next track). However its not satisfactory as the notes don't die away realistically. There is at least a few tenths of a second of just the resonant sound after the last chord was finished (hope this is the correct terminology).

If I knew how to edit the audio (its a FLAC file) then I suppose it must be possible to copy those very short sections multiple times, join them togethere and fade them away, to provide a more comfortable listening experience. (However, I already have one outstanding editing job which comes to mind in my mental in-tray so perhaps I'll just put up with applause on the Abbado for the time being.......).

[Bergonzi]

It's easy - copy into an editor and cut just before the shout. Then copy the chord reverb a couple of times and insert a fade. You then get a fairly natural end fade.

[Eine Alpensinfonie]

With the live DG/Bernstein recordings, they had a good system, recording the endings of works without the audience, before or after the concert itself.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

I was very impressed with the Klaus Tennstedt examples he played, and thought them the best.

They did sound good, didn't they? Coincidentally enough, back in my first (-ish: the one where I gave my favourites) post, I nearly added the Tennstedt as "one to avoid" - I had this recording for many years, and had great difficulties with the work as a result: it seemed rather studio-bound, a performance which just went from one take to the next with little sense of growing (or "symphonic") momentum. That might account for the excellence with which these extracts sounded today - but I want to hear the full performance again to see if I react differently to it now.

Once again Stephen Johnson wants almost the exact opposite from this work to what I do. He seemed keen on "atmosphere", frequently approving of programmatic allusions in the work - with not nearly so much attention to Musical details (not surprisingly in this regard, Boulez wasn't mentioned: an inexplicable omission otherwise).

Silver lining: no expense spent for me as a result of the BaL.

[visualnickmos]

The Bernstein DG extract sounded superb - SJ said he thought Bernstein (or words to the effect of) "...languished as long as superhumanly possible in the memory of the Alpine scenery/views..." Exactly! That's why to me it sounded so moving, incredibly atmospheric. It really did paint the picture - both visually and emotionally. Yes - I'm totally sold on Bernstein's later DG recording.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

The Bernstein DG extract sounded superb - SJ said he thought Bernstein (or words to the effect of) "...languished as long as superhumanly possible in the memory of the Alpine scenery/views..." Exactly! That's why to me it sounded so moving, incredibly atmospheric. It really did paint the picture - both visually and emotionally. Yes - I'm totally sold on Bernstein's later DG recording.

I much prefer younger Bernstein, but I did find that extract gorgeous.

[visualnickmos]

I much prefer younger Bernstein, but I did find that extract gorgeous.

As for a preference in Bernstein's two recordings - hard to say. I think I enjoy them both equally, but if I was making a very basic comparison, I'd say that the earlier Sony recording packs a real punch, whereas the later DG one is perhaps more introspective, reflective, perhaps a little pensive, even... when all is said and done, both are great recordings.

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

There's a third Bernstein recording, too: the DVD of the VPO performance from "in-between" the two audio-only recordings. (I have this on a Video tape somewhere, I think.)

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

There's a third Bernstein recording, too: the DVD of the VPO performance from "in-between" the two audio-only recordings. (I have this on a Video tape somewhere, I think.)

youTubable here:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=OCiKqIsF2IQ

[ferneyhoughgeliebte]

And another Abbado, this time from 2005 with the Lucerne Festival Orchestra (and suggesting that the "dark shadows" SJ detected in the BPO recording weren't a permamnet feature of Abbado's performances of this work - just look at the enormous grin he gives his players at the very end):

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QdxvC7NNSLQ

[HighlandDougie]

As ever, well-scripted and articulate presentation from SJ. Like FHG, I'm not at all convinced by his reading of meanings into the score which I'm not sure Mahler really intended. All a bit fanciful, really. We weren't listening to a sequence of Dvorák tone poems, after all. My main quibble with the choice of the Abbado Berlin recording is, simply, the recording quality. It sounds fine in quieter passages but it gets a bit muddy and congested when the music gets louder - and it's not the fault of the scoring (listen to Gielen in Freiburg or Macal in Prague to hear the music in a more sympathetic acoustic than the Philharmonie). But, as a BaL choice of a performance for someone who might otherwise not have this symphony in their collection, hard to fault.

[BBMmk2]

I don't think the Jansons was mentioned? Probably too late to get into here?

[Beef Oven!]

I don't think the Jansons was mentioned? Probably too late to get into here?

Seems everyone's got a downer on poor ol' Mariss this week.

[BBMmk2]

Seems everyone's got a downer on poor ol' Mariss this week.

A g shame. Some of us like this recording quite a lot, on this forum

[Flay]

As ever, well-scripted and articulate presentation from SJ.

How I miss Discovering Music